Originally, I had intended on pitnosg this comment in direct response to the viewing at Poetry Foundation, but didn’t desire the beginnings of an argument. I’m hoping that this isn’t too presumptuous of me. Here are those thoughts: I would find it to be more offensive if this essay, and the poetry itself, were not personal. For those that read, they commonly find themselves in between the lines. For those that write, it is impossible to avoid its nature: parts of the writer will be in the writing. Poetry, I think, is self-important, self-indulgent by virtue. When an individual reads, they do not think of the author but of themselves. It is the same when a writer writes. It’s a necessary component. Without it, the poems become art for art’s sake’, which is the type of writing I usually can’t stand. People read for the ability to relate. Being able to share and respond to other people’s relations with pieces broadens our own understanding. The essay was much appreciated, Mrs. Harper. p. s. the quoted self-important, self-indulgent was taken from a previous comment.